Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

Executive Summary
1.0 Introduction Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL) having its corporate office at Bijulee Bhawan, 3rd floor, Paltanbazar, Guwahati 781 001, Assam, has been formed during 2005-2006 after restructuring the Assam State Electricity Board to carry out the generation of electricity in the state of Assam. APGCL has four (4) power stations run by them. Those are Chandrapur Thermal (oil fired) Lakwa Thermal (gas fired) Namrup Thermal (gas fired) Karbi Langpi = 60 MW = 120 MW = 134 MW = 100 MW

The total existing generation capacity of all these plants is around 414 MW. 2.0 Description of Namrup Thermal power Station. Namrup Thermal power Station is one of the oldest base load station thermal power stations in India with gas turbines. using natural gas as the fuel. It was first built and commissioned in 1965. The first three gas turbine units were supplied by M/s. Westinghouse Electric Corpn., USA. Subsequently, capacity addition was made. The total installed capacity of NTPS was 134Mw. The following table shows the details unit descriptions with its present position : YEAR OF PRESENT COMMISSCAPACITY IONING 20Mw Presently shutdown 21Mw Presently shutdown 20Mw 14Mw under under

UNIT 1 2 3 4 5 6

DESIGN Gas Turbine-23Mw Gas Turbine-23Mw Gas Turbine-23Mw Gas Turbine-12.5Mw

MAKE

Westinghouse Electric Corp., 1965 USA -DO-DO-DO1965 1965 1976 1976 1985

Steam Turbine with BHEL gas fired boiler-30Mw Steam Turbine with waste heat recovery BHEL boiler-22.5Mw

Present generation of NTPS is within the range of 65-70Mw Running units: 1, 3, 5 & 6 (May, 07) The gas turbine units (1, 2, 3& 4) had outlived their designed lives of one lac running hours in mid eighties and early nineties.
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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

The 30Mw steam turbine unit-5 with natural gas boiler, designed and commissioned by BHEL in 1976, could not achieve its full generation since inception. With passage of time, due to ageing and other technical constraints of different equipments, the capacity of the unit has reduced drastically. The 22.5 Mw steam turbine unit-6 having three Waste Heat Recovery Boilers is a combined cycle unit receiving waste heat from the exhaust of the three gas turbine units 1, 2 & 3. This unit, designed and commissioned by BHEL in 1985, was the first of its kind in India and was, in fact in the first R&D project of BHEL. The unit could not produce its full output since its initial commissioning. Maximum generation of 15Mw only could be achieved.. 3.0 Need of the Project. The details of the project background are discussed in chapter no 4. The first three Gas turbine units of existing Namrup Thermal Power Station logged more than 1,00,000 running hours. The aging units are suffering form frequent outages and non availability of imported spares. The plant , as whole is recording a heat rate of over 3300 Kcal/Kwh against the present normative heat rate of 1950 Kcal /Kwh, as stipulated by Assam Electricity regulatory Commission, for combined cycle gas turbine unit. APGCL therefore decided to replace the existing plant and install a 2x100 MW (Nominal) CCPP. This will lead to economic use of scarce fossil fuel. The project is therefore justified. 4.0 Availability of land Based on the information provided by APGCL, adequate vacant land is available within the existing area under their possession to establish 2x100 MW (Nominal) gas based combined cycle power project. APGCL has identified around 122500 M2 (12.25 hac.) of land to accommodate all the facilities of the new plant. Based on the layout approximately 23 acres of land shall be required during phase - I of the plant including switchyard. The power block module and the accessories along with switchyard, off-site systems like cooling tower, DM water system etc have been accommodated within the identified land, the additional space is also identified for fabrication, batching plant, storage of construction materials etc during construction stage of the plant. 5.0 Availability of Fuel Fuel for the first phase of 100Mw shall be supplied from the existing linkage of natural gas for NTPS (0.66MMSCMD). Based on the Calorific value of 8200 Kcal/SCM and the normative heat rate for CCPP of 1950 Kcal/KWh as per Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission the maximum capacity of the plant on a gas linkage 0f 0.66 MMSCMD is 110 MW. New linkage of gas (0.6MMSCMD) shall have to be obtained from the gas producer such as Oil India ltd. or ONGC.

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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

6.0

Evacuation of power Power shall be evacuated through a new 220Kv transmission link connected to a 220 KV switchyard within NTPS complex construction of which has started under Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited (AEGCL).

7.0

Scope of the Assignment In order to assess the status of environment and the likely impacts which may be caused due to the proposed activities of this replacement programme, APGCL had entrusted the National Productivity Council, Guwahati with the assignment for undertaking Environmental Impact Assessment Study and Environmental Management Plant (EMP) for the above mentioned programme under consideration. This report is confined within the Rapid EIA Study and Environmental Management Plant (EMP) only. The scope of the study includes a detailed characterization of environment in an area of 10 km radius of the proposed project site for environmental components viz. air, water, noise, land, ecology, Demography and Socioeconomics It aims: - To assess the present status of air, noise, water, land, biological and socioeconomic components of environment. - To identify and quantify significant impacts of proposed plant, during construction and operation, on environmental components. - To suggest proposed pollution control facilities - To prepare Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to be adopted for mitigation of adverse impacts. - To delineate post project environmental quality monitoring programme to be pursued.

8.0

Description of Site The Namrup Thermal Power Station is located in Dibrugarh subdivision of Dibrugarh District of Assam at Latitude 278/ and Longitude 9523/. The Project site is well connected by air, rail and road. Approach road to the site from the nearest town and National Highway already exists. At present the condition of the approach road is poor. The name of the nearby important locations and their distance from the site are: Nearest Town and distance Nearest Highway and distance Nearest Railway station and distance Namrup and 5KM NH 37 and 70KM Namrup station with BG connectivity and 10KM

Nearest Airport and distance

Dibrugarh and 75KM

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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

9.0

Environmental Impact Assessment Methodology. The Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study has been carried out to determine the environmental impacts on different disciplines of environment that would be caused due to construction and operation of the proposed units and to formulate an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) consisting of recommendations of mitigatory measures to control the adverse impacts and formulation of a Environmental Monitoring Programme.

9.1

Period of Study. This Rapid EIA study is based on field enquiries and investigations, collection of existing information and generation of data, relevant to environmental parameters such as soils, hydrology, meteorology, land use, water use, water quality, air quality, terrestrial & aquatic ecology, demography & socioeconomics and noise. As per the guidelines of Ministry of Forest & Environment, GoI, the rapid EIA should be based on data for one non monsoon season. This report is based on the data of the following period and source: Data Historical data Current Data Current Data Source Season Period Feb07-Apr07 July07-Sept 07 Oct07- Nov07.

Nearby tea gardens of Pre Monsoon the project site NPCs meteorological Monsoon station set up at project site NPCs meteorological Post Monsoon station set up at project site

The pre Monsoon data was collected from nearby tea gardens of the project site. The data for the period July 2007-September 2007 (monsoon) and 1st October 2007-30th November 2007(Post monsoon) was collected by meteorological station set up at project site. Based on the available historical data and the data generated in the project site the impact prediction of the project is found to be acceptable. How ever if first hand data for on non monsoon period of entire three month is required the same can be produced in due course as data collection is still going on at project site to generate data for the post monsoon period till December 2007. The impacts have been evaluated over the study area, which encompasses all areas within a 10 km radius around the project site. The details are in chapter 3

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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

10.0 10.1

BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL SCENARIO Soils and Landuse In the present study, the IRS data of 27 January 2007 path and row no 113/ 52 which is 100% cloud free was used. For georeferencing of the satellite images the Survey of India topo sheet no 83M/8 in the 1:50,000 scale. The sample sets as desired was taken after doing the close verification in the field. The box classifier method was used for the entire exercise. It is seen in the result that the percentage of forestland is more compared to the other landuse classes. The paddy field in the area is also very high which is placed in the second position. In the present study the values of NDVI (Normalized Differentiated Vegetative Index) is concentrating in the ranges of 0.05 to 0.35, which implies that the area is mostly covered with vegetation with deep chlorophyll content and on the other hand the percentage of water bodies, snows etc are very less. The percentage of bare soil and the sand casted area is also less, where the water bodies is a little bit higher compare to the bare soils. The detail discussion on landuse and NDVI values depicted in Chapter no 5 & Clause no 5.1. Water holding capacity of the soils generally varies between 41-67%. The soils are generally slightly alkaline in nature with pH values ranging between 7.1 and 8.3. Average concentrations of potassium, calcium and magnesium are about 2007 mg/kg, 1108 mg/kg and 3356 mg/kg respectively during pre-monsoon season. Electrical conductivity (EC) is moderate, generally varying between 100-600 micromhos/cm (average about 260 micromhos/cm). Levels of iron are observed to vary between 8960-30000 mg/kg. Levels of manganese and boron vary with their respective ranges of 0-2560 mg/kg and 2.8-9.8 mg/kg. The quality of soil is discussed in Chapter no 5 & Clause 5.1.

10.2 Hydrology and Water use Though the Hydrology and Water use is discuss in Chapter 5 & Clause 5.2, the summarized findings are these: The main surface water body within the study area is the river Dilli. The Dilli River flows from south-east to north-west traversing through the southern part of the study area. There is a small river (Disam) flows from the eastern part to the north-west direction through the southern boundary which carries the treated effluent of the project. Besides, a number of scattered, confined water bodies viz. lakes, tanks, ponds, roadside burrows, etc exist within the study area, most of which contain water throughout the year. The surface water resources within the study area primarily consist of the river Dilli and Disam nala. A number of confined waterbodies viz. tanks, ponds etc also form a
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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

part of the surface water resources. The ground water sources comprise of a number of open dug wells and tubewells both in urban and rural front, number of tubewells being predominant. The study area generally receives plenty of rainfall during April to September. The majority of the water use in the study area is domestic followed by industrial and irrigational use. The principal source of such water is ground water lifted through a vast number of tubewells, both shallow and deep. River water is also consumed to some extent. 10.3 Meteorology The climate of the area is tropical humid and generally equable, characterized by four distinct seasons namely pre monsoon, monsoon, post monsoon and winter. January is the coldest (110C) and August is the hottest (110C) month. The area experiences heavy rainfall with a prolonged rainy season. The annual rainfall received in the area is about 1,640 mm. Of this, about 88% rainfall takes place during the months April to September. Relative humidity is very high, mean monthly RH being in the range of 81-89% for most part of the year. The average wind speed is about 6.8 km/hr. Wind in the area is gentle to moderate. The prevalent wind corridors are south-west, south, north-east and north during the major part of the year. The climatic condition of this micro-zone is control by the high hill ranges in the South and East direction & details of this meteorological part is discussed in Chapter 5 & Clause no 5.3. 10.4 Water Quality Water Quality was monitored at 5 ponds, at 2 locations over river Dilli, 3 locations on storm water drains, at 8 locations for ground water and 3 locations for NTPS effluent with a frequency of generally once in a season. It is seen that the quality of ground water as well as surface water always meet the norms of MINAS (Minimum National Standards) and all details of the water quality is discussed in Chapter no 5 & Clause no 5.4. Following is the quality of pond, river and ground water. Sources Elements pH conductivity DO BOD TSS TDS Chlorides Sulphates Iron oil & grease Pond water 6.9-8.9 100-300 umhos/cm 4.2-5.6 mg/l 8-10.2 mg/l 20-210 mg/l 30-190 mg/l 6-12.8 mg/l 6.2-10.5 mg/l --1-1.7 mg/ River water 7.1-7.3 170-200 umhos/cm, 5.2-6.1 mg/l, 4.8-8.1 mg/l, 190-305, 200-235 mg/l, 16.1-19.1 mg/l 14.2-16.8 mg/l ---max 0.8 mg/l. Ground water 6.5-7.5, 100-500 umhos/cm, 140-350 mg/l, 11.4-37 mg/l 16-34.3 mg/l

2.9-7.58 mg/l,

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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

Pond shows poor quality because of the large scale contamination by various human activities. The water quality of river the Dilli was in a pretty healthy and clean state in the stretch and was not being affected by the pollutant loads from industrial area as evidenced by the consistent value of pH and DO. The ground water is free from any kind of industrial and urban pollution and is fit for human consumption in general. The final effluent of existing plant meets all prescribed limits and standards for discharge into inland surface water in respect of the parameters analysed. The effluent recorded for moderate DO level (2.1 mg/l) and negligible sulphide level (0.005 mg/l) and no odour problems which is the effluent dummy baseline stages is apprehended.

10.5 Ambient Air Quality Ambient air quality was monitored at 6 stations in and around the project site at a frequently of twice a week over 1 season. The maximum 24 hourly average 98percentile value of SPM was 221 ug/m3. Similar values of RPM, SO2 and NOx were 61 ug/m3, 19 ug/m3 and 25 ug/m3 respectively. Thus, the level of all the parameters was below the stipulated standards applicable for industrial areas. The overall mean of 24-hourly average values of SPM, RPM, SO2 and NOx in the area (mean of all the 6 locations) were 75, 31, 8 and 10 ug/m3 respectively which were within the stipulated standards for industrial areas. Quality of air, particularly in the adjacent area of the plant always shows concentrations less than its permissible limit, which are discussed in details Chapter no 5 & Clause no 5.5. 10.6 Ecology The overall floral composition in the whole study area is quite rich and comparable to other neighboring areas. However, urban areas have comparatively less variation in the composition of the natural vegetation than that in the semi-urban and rural areas. The detail ecological pattern of the study area is discussed in Chapter no 5 & Clause no 5.6 In the urban areas, trees and shrubs planted near and on the roadsides frequently show retardation in growth and injuries on leaf and young shoot. Such injuries are uncommon in plants growing on areas away from the roads with heavy vehicular emission. Aerial injuries of plants on roadsides are seemed to be mainly due to vehicular pollution.

10.7 Demography and Socioeconomics Almost the entire study area is rural to semi urban in nature and densely populated with an average population density of about 1429 persons/sq.km (2001 census). While Scheduled Caste population is only about 14% of the total population, the tribal
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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

population is about 8.06%. The sex ratio is about 934 females per 1000 males. Bulk of the work force (about 77% according to 2001 Census) is engaged in the tertiary sector (services, trade & commerce and transport & communication). The literacy rate is satisfactory (about 81%). The principal language is Assamese. The principal staple food is rice. The primary sources of drinking water are dugwells, tubewells and water supply based on the river Dilli. The relevant features are discussed in Chapter no 5 & Clause no 5.7 11.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF PROPOSED PROJECTS. It is inferred that construction of the Proposed Project will not having any adverse Impact on the environment. Probable Environmental Impact is discussed in Chapter no 6, with a detail elaboration of Environmental Impact on Human health, Water quality, Air quality & Soil. Soil There was no adverse impact observed on physical nature of the soil at all locations, due to industrial/urban activities. No adverse impact on chemical characteristics of soil was observed even at the locations close to NTPS. Overall, the industrial development had no negative role to play on the soil quality of the study area. No additional land will be required as all additional plants and expansion shall be confined within the existing boundary limits of NTPS land. As a result the impact on landuse would be very insignificant and any impact due to construction will be confined within the complex and will not hamper the landuse aspects outside the complex. Water Wastewater to the tune of 42 m3/hr (about 0.01 cumecs) of the project is discharged into the Disam nala. However, the discharge being merely less than 1% of the flow through the river, the impacts on the hydrology of the river is practically negligible. The additional water requirement of the project will be met from the Dilli river. In fact, no adverse impact on the surrounding users as far as water use is concerned is expected. At present, the quality of the final effluent is well within the prescribed standards. After commissioning of the additional units the combined effluent will receive complete treatment and the treated effluent quality is expected to be similar to the level achieved at present and as such no adverse impact on water bodies due to such discharge is envisaged. The river Disam is a medium river here and the effluent will have the added advantage of getting diluted to a great extent. The conclusion is that there will be no adverse impact on water quality due to construction of the project. Air As far as emission of SO2 is concerned, three cases are considered: Case-1 : With existing units
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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

Case-2 : Case-3 :

With existing units and CCPP-1 With existing units, CCPP-1 and CCPP-2.

In order to evaluate the impact on ambient air quality due to such releases, the ground level concentrations (GLCs) as a result of the plant emissions are evaluated through mathematical modeling using computer-aided techniques. The maximum 24-hourly average increase in GLC of SO2 due to the plant operations would be about 1.15 ug/m3, which will occur at a distance of about 0.4 km, that is within the plant boundary (case-3). Such maximum incremental GLCs for the 3 cases are 19, 16 and 1.15 ug/m3. As a result, the resultant maximum 24-hourly average GLC of SO2 (mean 24 hourly average baseline GLC of about 0.4 ug/m3 added to the maximum 24 hourly average predicted incremental GLC under stability Class A (worst case) is expected to attain a level of about 1.55 ug/m3 for case-3 (worst case) which is within the permissible limit of 120 ug/m3 for industrial areas as stipulated in the standards. The contribution during premonsoon season is found much higher compared to other seasons including annual. This is attributable to the higher wind speed during pre monsoon as discussed in the report. The peak incremental SO2 contribution to GLC has been predicted to be about 0.45 ug/m3 during pre monsoon season at a distance of about 1.3 km in south-west direction (case-3). The annual average peak incremental SO2 contribution for the 3 cases are 3, 3.2 and 5.3 ug/m3. Referring to the background levels of ambient air quality discussed elsewhere in the report, the baseline SO2 concentration (about 8 ug/m3 being the arithmetic mean of 24 hourly average twice a week sampling results) added to the maximum annual average predicted incremental GLC (about 0.25 ug/m3) is expected to attain a level of about 0.65 ug/m3 which is below the permissible limit of 80 ug/m3 as stipulated in the latest Ambient Air Quality Standards pertaining to industrial areas. Ambient Air Quality As was observed that the industrial development has not adversely affected the abundance or diversity of cultivated trees, it shall be assumed that the expansion activities will not deteriorate the present conditions. As higher SO2 was not found to be critical to the agricultural crops; the proposed expansion will not have any adverse effect on the agricultural environment. Noise The operational activities are expected to generate undue noise. The movement of cars and a few trucks in the area and blowing of their horns would contribute to the noise pollution along with the machinery noise. Impacts on persons working very close to the industrial noise sources are likely, which could be minimized by providing with adequate protection in the form of ear plugs, helmets etc. More over as per CPCB guide lines Turbines will be housed in indoor acoustic enclosures to control noise.
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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

However, neither the sound intensity nor its duration is expected to be large enough to cause any undue disturbances to the habitat living inside and in close proximity to the site. As such, impact due to noise on the adjacent area would not assume any significant dimension. This projection is already evident from the baseline scenario, as shown in chapter 6. Ecology As observed from the present status of terrestrial flora and fauna, it appears that the expansion activities will not cause any serious damage or reduce the diversity of terrestrial flora and fauna. There will neither be any drastic change in number nor any health injuries of domestic animals in the vicinity due to the expansion activities. Demography and Socioeconomics Some additional manpower will be required during the operation of the additional plant units, most of which will be migrant in nature involving an increase in total population in the area. However, compared to the semi-urban nature and high population density in the vicinity, the impacts on the demographic fabric of the area will be negligible. The details of the manpower requirement are discussed in Chapter no 5 & Clause no. 5.7. Large beneficial manpower will be required during the operation of the additional plant units, most of which will be migrant in nature involving an increase in total population in the area. However, compared to the semi-urban nature and high population density in the vicinity, the impacts on the demographic fabric of the area will be negligible. 12.0 Location for the intake pump house. The intake pump house for the proposed project should be located 100 meter up stream on the river bank of Dilli from the existing intake pump house site as because of existence Naga Misimi thrust nearby the existing intake pump house.

13.0 ESTIMATED DURATION OF THE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION PHASE. As per the project schedule (Annexure-) the construction activities is scheduled to start by May 2008 after obtaining environmental clearance etc. and scheduled to be commissioned by February 2010. 14.0 CONCLUSION: A natural gas fired combined cycle power plant is a cleaner source of energy compared to a coal fired plant. Because of its high cycle efficiency (above 50%), maximum utilization of fossil fuel can be achieved. The fuel being natural gas the CO2, SO2, SPM emission is lower compared to coal.
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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

Gas turbines generally exhaust gas at high temperature, higher the plant size, higher the exhaust gas temperature. In the instant gas the exhaust gas temperature will be in the order of 6000 C. This high temperature gas is utilized in waste recovery steam generator to drive a steam turbine utiilising the fuel to the optimum extent. Such plants are called combined cycle power plant having cycle efficiency above 50%. The Process Flow diagram is shown in annexure-XIV. In India there is a recent trend in developing natural gas based large Combined Cycle Plant along side coal fired plant. From 1998 to 2012 at least 6830 MW of CCPP power will be added. Out this in Tripura there alone there will be a capacity addition of 1080 MW by NEEPCO & ONGC. NEEPCO has already commissioned its 280 MW CCPP plant I Tripura. NTPS can boast of installing the first indigenously manufactured CCPP in the country by adding three BHEL make waste heat recovery boilers to Gas turbine units 1, 2&3. APGCL is in the process of installation of another waste recovery unit at LTPS by adding three waste heat recovery boilers to the three 20 MW G.T units. On commissioning of 2x100 MW Namrup Replacement Power Project, it is inferred that there will be no adverse impact on the environment within the studied area. On the other hand large beneficial impact in terms of gross economic yield shall accrue. In addition gross economic yield shall increase through increase in agricultural produce, high income group and through marketing multiplier effect. The benefits accrued shall be obviously tremendous in local as well as regional context. 15.0 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) of NTPS is in operation since inception of in 1965. The ETP p resently comprises gravity oil separators, chemical treatment section and physical treatment section. Except storm water, all other liquid streams are routed to the ETP. Although with the existing treatment scheme, it has been possible to maintain the treat effluent quality well within the quality specified under MINAS, the ETP will be further modernized which is discussed in DPR to reduce VOC (Volatile Organic Carbon) emissions from oil separators, improve the overall efficiency of treatment section, revamp the existing facility, remove suspended solids and organic from the treated effluent and atomize the ETP operations. It is recently proposed to develop secure landfill for solid/ semisolid oil sludge in a site at north boundary of the plant area for disposal of oil sludge separated from gravity separator. Tree cover inside and around the NTPS complex is thin. Tree plantation is mainly concentrated in the non-productive areas towards the western side of the NTPS. Good tree cover is found also towards the eastern side but outside the project complex. As
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Environmental Impact Assessment Study of 2X100MW Namrup RPP Executive Summary

the plant area has little scope for extensive tree plantation due to absence of vacant land and being surrounded by hills, expansion of green belt inside the plant to the maximum possible extent along with preservation and expansion of green cover in the surrounding hills are proposed. In the environmental management plan the major components of cost involvement are mainly for 1) Green belt development/ plantation, 2) Ecological park development, 3) Rain water harvesting, 4) Secure landfill, 5) Museum of old equipments and 6) Monitoring cell. After doing the analysis it is estimated that for Environmental Management Plan the expenditure may be Rs. 200 lakhs. The breakup of the different EMP is discussed in Chapter No 7.0 and Clause No. 7.9 The solid waste generated from the household are being used for compost preparation for use in the kitchen gardening. Environmental monitoring in respect of ambient air quality, stack emissions and liquid effluents are being conducted. However, monitoring of such aspects will be further regularized in terms of frequency and parameters.

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